May Pony Updates.

This month we must start with Starlight. Thank you to all the people who have written and spoken with us about her in response to our letter. Together with Abba she was put in a field adjacent to Bellever to settle. Lorna observed her and it was soon obvious that she did not need much acclimatisation; so Lorna opened the gate. Talk of light the touch paper and stand back, wow, she was gone; off like the wind. She and Abba careered around the various commons having a fantastic time. Seeing her out on Bellever we can see that we made the correct decision. She has adapted back to the foraging life as if she had always been there. She does come back to the field near to Lorna’s farm from time to time, just to check we have not left any food out. This is not a bad thing because she will bring the others with her and we will then not need to organise a drift to round them up. A fitting conclusion to this part of her new life.

Now then, young Charlie, or should he be re-named Houdini; has done it again. We called the ponies in to be groomed and to be given some hay and they duly obliged. After Charlie had been groomed and he had put both front feet in the clean water in the drinking trough(the latest annoying trick) he went and stood on top of a wall at the far end of the adoption paddocks. He was there for about an hour and would only come back if we called him. A little later Andy Bradford came down and said that two days previously contractors had felled some trees where Charlie was standing and they had forgotten to put the fence back up. Charlie had taken the opportunity to lead the others into some prime silage grass. The fence having been put back up, he was now disappointed that he could not get out into the field again.

Golden Flame has been away with George at Lorna’s farm for some extra work prior to the Jubilee Challenge. They are both back now and are in A1 super condition. When we put them back in the paddocks, it was quite touching, because George whinnied and Charlie came trotting over to his lifelong friend. They made a fuss off each other and then wandered off to graze together.

Rolo is almost into his summer coat and he is going to be a stunner, with a rich depth of colour. We will post a picture of him soon. He is off to do the Jubilee Challenge this year for the first time.

Jubilee Challenge Special.

 Dartmoor Ponies making the difference at this year’s Ten Tors.

Jubilee Challenge, 2008.

This is a red letter day on the calendar for our charity because it is one of the ways we show everyone about our work with less fortunate children and at the same time promote the Heritage Pony.

The Jubilee Challenge is a demanding one day event designed for young people with special physical or educational needs.

Held on the Saturday of Ten Tors weekend, the Jubilee Challenge entrants share the same pressures, achievements - and weather - as the Ten Tors Teams!

The Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust ponies are used to motivate and encourage students around the route!

The ponies were prepared on the Friday before the big day, groomed, fed and watered; and were driven over to a holding area near to the start area, by Dru and Donna. They were met by Vanessa, Phillip, Emma and Kerry who settled the ponies in readiness for Saturday.

Three of the DPHT’s adoption ponies; Golden Flame, George, Rolo and pack-ponies Boss and Frosty walked with the students on the eight mile route.

Golden Flame, George and Rolo thoroughly enjoyed all the fuss and attention. Boss and Frosty have been involved with the Trust’s Education Programme for the last year and took part for the first time. This was our largest entry of ponies to date.

The weather was kinder than last year and all the ponies, handlers and children completed the course safely. As you sit reading this page think how much effort those children put in to completing the course, some in pain, some with little or no sight and some with extreme walking problems. Humbling, isn’t it? The smiles of achievement were all we need to make us sure that next year, we will do it again. I have laid a bet that Dru says,” Next year were are taking ten”. Her enthusiasm knows no bounds and without her a lot of what we do would not happen.

7am on Saturday  5th April 20 Dartmoor Heritage Ponies arrived in Norfolk, 16 ponies for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) and 4 ponies for Norfolk County Council.

After successfully selling 16 ponies in 2006 to NWT, Grazing Officer Mel Slote returned to Dartmoor  to purchase a further 16 ponies for a new 500 acre site.

We are glad to report all ponies came off the lorry fit and well and showed no signs of stress or fatigue. In fact true to type they quickly had their heads straight down to eat. 

These ponies make such wonderful conservation grazing machines that it shouldn't be long before we are able to confirm more orders. 

Mel Slote spent two days with Dru Butterfield DPHT Charity Manager. Day one was a training day run inconjunction with Positive Horsemanship in handling techniques for semi-feral ponies, whilst Day two, was a whirl wind visit of local pony keepers. A thoroughly enjoyable couple of days for all concerned.

Teignbridge District Council has recently purchased five Dartmoor Heritage ponies for conservation grazing on their internationally important dune grassland habitat at Dawlish Warren. The ponies were sourced with help from the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust with funding coming from Natural England. Together with Positive Horsemanship, the Trust also helped train the site's Rangers how to handle the ponies safely.

Dawlish Warren is a National Nature Reserve situated at the mouth of the River Exe in South Devon. The site supports over 2000 species of invertebrates and 620 different plants, many of them rare species. The area also provides a haven for birdlife. Conservation grazing is essential to maintain the site in good order for its many wild and human visitors.

When Teignbridge District Council, who own and manage the site, decided they needed to introduce conservation grazing, they contacted the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust (DPHT) for help in finding suitable ponies. The ponies were selected from a traditional Dartmoor herd kept at Frenchbeer Farm, Chagford, by Mike Malseed.

The mares will spend the autumn and winter at Dawlish Warren and the remaining half of the year on National Trust land along the South Devon coast path near Kingswear. The coastal sites are similar to Dartmoor in many ways, having plenty of gorse and rough vegetation that benefits from being controlled by grazing. Dartmoor ponies are ideally suited to conservation grazing on such sites. Unlike cattle and sheep, they will graze for up to 18 hours a day and they are adapted to survive on vegetation that has little nutritive value. In addition, the traditional Dartmoor Heritage ponies are eligible for payments through the Native Breeds at Risk Supplement (Higher Stewardship Scheme) run by Natural England. <

The DPHT offered to handle the mares before they went to their new home and it was decided to incorporate the pony handling into a full two-day training course for all the Rangers involved. Six members of staff from Teignbridge District Council and the National Trust learned how to rope and handle feral Dartmoor ponies, while maintaining the ponies' wariness of people. It was important to get the right balance, since if ponies become too tame they can become a nuisance in public areas and both sites have high visitor numbers; so achieving the balance between wildness and the ponies being manageable is vital.  "We needed the ponies to avoid people but be manageable by us," said Phil Chambers, Senior Ranger at Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve. "In two days, we - and the ponies - were trained to the point where we can halter them and carry out inspection and work on hooves, but the ponies still avoid approaching people. A very impressive couple of days."

The main goal of the DPHT is to preserve the traditional type of Dartmoor pony, now known as the Dartmoor Heritage pony. In 2007, DPHT embarked on a major campaign to promote the Dartmoor Pony for conservation grazing. "We set out to add value to the ponies," says Charity Manager, Dru Butterfield. "Finding new markets for the ponies has been an important area of our work and I am delighted with the interest we have created in Heritage stock."

The service offered by DPHT in helping buyers to source, handle and train both ponies and site managers has made a big different in the fight to secure the future of the traditional Dartmoor Pony. "The Pony Handling course run by the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust and Positive Horsemanship was excellent and gave the staff involved increased knowledge, awareness and confidence of handling wild Dartmoor ponies. I would recommend it to anyone involved with managing ponies for conservation grazing," said Mike Ingram, Area Warden for the National Trust.

You can imagine how delighted we were when Tony Beard, otherwise known as the Wag From Widecombe, agreed to be a Patron. Tony is a keen preserver of Devon life and culture. Tony has spent many happy years as a farmer. He talks of his love of the moors, countryside traditions and the characters who live and work on the moor in his Radio Devon 'Dartmoor Diary'.

The Dartmoor Pony is the emblem of Dartmoor, but then some would say Tony is!